Anxious parents promoting their pre-schoolers' mental health.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Promoting the mental health of children with anxious parents: parents' views and needs (PROMOTE study).
IRAS ID
331503
Contact name
Francesca Zecchinato
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Head of Research Ethics and Clinical Governance, University of Southampton
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 16 days
Research summary
Anxiety disorders are characterised by intense emotional and physical distress that can manifest in different situations and towards different objects (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and represent the most prevalent psychiatric condition in the general population worldwide, with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 16% (Kessler et al., 2009), and even higher rates since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Children of anxious parents should be recognised as a high-risk population. Indeed, the scientific literature consistently shows that parental anxiety represents a risk factor for the development of emotional and behavioural problems in their children (e.g., Lawrence et al., 2019; Jami et al., 2020). Consequently, efforts to prevent child mental health problems, and promote positive child developmental outcomes could focus on children whose parents are anxious. However, this issue has been overlooked by research and clinical practice, and there are currently no NHS services aimed at preventing the negative impacts that parental anxiety can have in their children.
This qualitative study aims to address this key gap by conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews with parents (18 year +) who have preschool-age children and who have received NHS psychological therapy for anxiety disorders to understand what they would want/expect from a programme aimed at promoting their children’s positive development. Specifically, the interviews will examine anxious parents’ views on preventing mental ill-health in their children, in terms of concerns, service accessibility, usability, and barriers to access to prevention. Interviews will be analysed using qualitative methods.REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0891
Date of REC Opinion
13 Nov 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion